Changing Your Mind
by Annie2
Summary: The X-Files are looking for Spike/Lex wants to trade info for a warning
1. Default Chapter

Changing Your Mind 1  
  
By Annie  
  
Rated: PG Summary: Lex tries to protect Clark from the X-Files; Spike comes back from Africa and needs help. Disclaimer: Still not mine, despite the Spell of Acquisition. Spoilers: Buffy Season 6/7  
Three weeks and twice that number of ignored phone calls from Agent Mulder later, Spike came to the mansion. Well, kind of Spike, but mostly not the Spike Lex would have expected. Lex had wandered into the dark kitchen to get more ice for the bucket in his office when a hand whipped out from beneath a stainless steel counter and grabbed his ankle, scaring the hell out of him and knocking him to the floor. Lex was scrambling away to go for a weapon when he saw who it was.  
  
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Lex asked harshly, backing away to regain some composure. He looked incredulously at the sight before him.  
  
The vampire, huddled beneath a counter in the Luthor kitchen, in the dark. Quivering the slightest bit, eyes flicking around restlessly, legs pulled to his chest and fingers playing aimlessly on the denim covering his shins. Hair almost all roots, and Spike looked like he hadn't been taking care of himself since Lex had left him in Sunnydale. Lex thought that if Spike could breathe, he looked like he would be hyperventilating.  
  
Lex reached out tentatively to Spike, but the vampire moved further into his defensive crouch, if that was possible. "Spike? What the hell happened? Why are you here?"  
  
Spike's ice blue eyes focused on Lex's face for a brief moment, skittering away again just as quickly.  
  
"Where am I?" he asked fearfully.  
  
Lex frowned. "Under the counter?" he offered, thinking that probably wasn't the right answer. He almost reached out again, but that had seemed to upset Spike, so he forced himself to remain still and non-threatening.  
  
"Counter," Spike muttered. "Counter. Counter measures. Measures should be taken. Never do that again."  
  
Okay, Lex thought, something's seriously fucked here.  
  
"Did you go to Africa, Spike?" Lex asked, trying to figure out what the hell could be going on.  
  
Spike buried his face in his hands and laughed, a bit hysterically, Lex thought.  
  
"Bugs. In my head." The vampire mumbled, trembling fingers reaching up to dig at his scalp furiously, pulling at his own hair, low moan coming to Lex from the dark recess.  
  
Something wrong with the chip, then, Lex mused, something that was making the vampire crazy.  
  
Okay, Lex told himself. Stay calm. You have an insane vampire huddled under a steel cabinet in your kitchen and the live-in servants are too far away to hear anything; you have no idea if the chip still works or not; you don't know what he'll do if you try to physically pull him out into the open, so best not to try. Lex inhaled and sat more comfortably on the floor, mentally running through the contents of drawers all around him to try to remember where the wooden spoons were.  
  
Spike had stopped scratching at his scalp and was simply resting his head on his knees, fingers still twitching spasmodically against his legs. Lex figured he could just get up and leave the room, but this development was so unexpected he hardly knew how to react. Bad enough he had spent the last three weeks trying to pry secrets out of Clark and avoiding Fox Mulder's phone calls, which he intended to do something about by calling the Director's office again tomorrow. Bad enough the Initiative scientists, to whom he paid incredible amounts of money, were unable to successfully duplicate Spike's chip, and now the very piece of technology that Lex might have been able to obtain for them seemed to be malfunctioning anyway. Not that Lex would have allowed them to take it out. He wouldn't want to be responsible for unleashing a creature as vicious as Spike was alleged to be on the populace. Too much to be thinking about on top of all the business he had to conduct on a daily basis. Thankfully, at least, Lionel was still hanging out in Metropolis.  
  
Spike raised his head suddenly, causing Lex to jump slightly, ready to bolt from the room. Just in case.  
  
"Lex, " Spike said, abruptly lucid. "You have to help me."  
  
Lex blinked in surprise. "You know where you are?" he asked carefully.  
  
Spike crawled out of his hiding place, Lex scrambling to his feet and retreating a few steps, waiting to see what was going to happen next.  
  
"Yea, I know where the hell I am!" Spike replied. "Do you think I wanted to come here? This is almost the last place I want to be, but you're the only one who can help. Well, except maybe Red, but I don't think she'll be doing any helping in my direction after.,well, she won't. That's all you need to know."  
  
The vampire was being very defensive, Lex thought. "What the hell did you do back there that was so bad, Spike?" Lex asked, thinking he might tell him this time.  
  
"Nothing. Everything. Has nothing to do with you anyway. I went to Africa."  
  
Lex opened the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water, offering one to Spike who simply raised an eyebrow and didn't reach for it.  
  
"I know you went to Africa, Spike. I paid for the round-trip ticket. I don't understand why you're back here, unless you have more information for me, something you held back when we spoke in Sunnydale. I thought we were even."  
  
"We are," Spike told him simply. "Anyway, I went to Africa, because I heard things, about..things. You wouldn't get this bloody chip taken out for me, and I thought if I made myself better.worthy..I thought.."  
  
Spike lost track then, abruptly. "I have to go back and show her..can't show her.don't know how." Spike suddenly began tearing at his shirt, ripping it to pieces and flinging the tatters to the floor at Lex's feet. He started raking his fingernails across his bare chest, striping his pale skin with blood. He had his head down, looking at his hands as if they couldn't possibly help, even though they were trying.  
  
Spike raised his head to look into Lex's shocked face. "Can't you see it? Can you see in here and find it for me? I can't find it!" He was digging into his flesh even more desperately now and Lex dropped the water and reached out to grab Spike's hands, forcibly trying to make him stop, cold blood getting all over his hands and Spike's.  
  
"Stop it, Spike," he was shouting. "You have to stop this! I'll help you. Whatever you want, I'll help."  
  
He managed to get Spike's hands stilled and held them in his, against Spike's chest, as the vampire closed his eyes and rested his head against Lex's.  
  
"I can't find it. I think William has it." Spike said quietly.  
  
Oh, yea, Lex thought, seriously fucked. 


	2. Changing Your Mind 2

Changing Your Mind 2  
  
By Annie  
  
Rated: PG Summary: Spike is hidden in Luthor Mansion Disclaimer: Never owned 'em; never will. Spoilers: Buffy Season 7 Feedback: crehnert@ptd.net Elephants courtesy of Sally. (  
Lex unlocked the heavy door and eased into the small room carefully. No one would hear or see him, not in this mostly forgotten part of the castle, but Lex never knew from one visit to the next which Spike he'd find; the insane, rambling one, whose words seemed to make sense only to Spike, or the briefly lucid vampire, who had somehow received a soul he hadn't realized would be so much trouble. Lex thought it ironic that Spike would have gotten a soul on purpose, and Lex was almost willing to sell his for the one thing he'd probably never have.  
  
He held the bag of butcher's blood out like an offering as he stepped into the room, waiting for Spike to actually say something first, so Lex could gauge his current frame of mind.  
  
" 'Bout bloody time," he heard, and stifled a smile, closing the door behind him and handing the bag to Spike, who generally waited until Lex left the room to drink it anyway. "What did you find out?"  
  
Lex leaned against the cool wall, glancing around the room quickly; small bed, one chair and a table, and a few books, nothing he really thought Spike would want to read, but which he had brought anyway. Lex knew this was hard on Spike, but this was the only safe place for the moment.  
  
"I spoke to Dr. Greer, he's the best out of the Initiative scientists that I have at my disposal. He was demanding to actually see you before he'd tell me anything, but I managed to persuade him against that particular idea."  
  
Spike smirked. "I'm sure you were very..persuasive. I've already been on the receiving end of what you call persuasion, mate."  
  
Lex ignored the 'mate,' which was a term he hated and which he knew Spike used deliberately.  
  
Lex put his hands in his pockets and relaxed, but fractionally; if Spike was sane just then, it didn't mean he couldn't turn nasty at a moment's notice, and Lex was always ready to bolt out the door and lock it again behind him.  
  
"Dr. Greer is of the opinion that the chip isn't causing your mental instability at all. He said if the chip starts misfiring, or something, it will simply end up killing you. But it won't make you crazy. He still wants to examine you personally."  
  
"Not going to happen," Spike declared firmly, starting to pace back and forth, but still remaining at the other end of the room, barely eyeing the bag he had laid on the table. When Spike was thinking clearly, he usually stayed across the room from Lex, sensing the high-tension strumming of fear and excitement beneath Lex's cool exterior. Spike would not allow a replay of their two brief encounters, no matter how willing he felt Lex might be.  
  
"I told him as much," Lex agreed, "In no uncertain terms. I just don't know what to do for you, other than hiding you out and feeding you."  
  
Spike started pacing faster, a sure sign of agitation, and Lex's hands came out of his pockets as he sidled a bit closer to the door.  
  
"Spike?" He began, trying to reassure the vampire that he had things under control. "There is still the problem of the federal agents. I don't want them here, and I don't want to send them to Sunnydale looking for demons either, since I'm not supposed to know about that. I'll figure something out. We'll figure something out. No doubt they're still trying to track the Initiative scientists down, and Agent Mulder made some passing references to Clark that I find very disturbing. I know he's going to come back here, and I intend to be ready for him. I'll keep him away from both of you. Those scientists are mine, and I don't want the government getting their hands on you and finding out I have them. I have no idea how you would react to interrogation, especially if you go into one of your.episodes. As for Clark,..."  
  
Spike interrupted him then. "Clark is also yours, right? Wishful thinking, Luthor. I don't see that happening either. He wants the little sugary thing. You should protect him. Not that he can't protect himself, but he has no idea of the monsters there are out there, the black-hearted heathens who would dissect him as soon as look at him. And your Initiative scientists would be the first ones to try it. Believe me. Keep him away from them, too."  
  
"No one is getting near Clark. I've taken steps to insure it."  
  
Spike studied Lex's face seriously. "You're very determined. You know, Lex, sometimes that doesn't help. Thanks for the dinner," the vampire said in dismissal. "Don't forget to lock up on your way out. Wouldn't do to let a demon wander the castle all night, now, would it?"  
  
Lex gave him a half smile and turned to go, leaving him to his bag. "Oh, I almost forgot," Lex said, reaching back into a pocket and tossing a pack of cigarettes and some matches onto the table. "Didn't know if you still smoked or not, but here. You should have seen the look the maid gave me when I sent her out for them."  
  
Spike nodded his thanks, waiting for Lex to leave the room.  
  
Lex paused in the doorway. "By the way," he asked, "Who is William?"  
  
Spike's eyes flickered to the floor briefly. "William is lost. There is no William."  
  
It was hours later, when Lex had finally managed to fall into restless sleep, that the screaming started reaching into his subconscious through the small intercom on his bedside table. The link to Spike's tiny room gave a painful electronic squeal and went silent. Lex was instantly awake, threw an unbuttoned shirt over the silk boxers he had worn to bed and, grabbing the small wooden cross from beside the now-dead intercom, raced to the locked room on the other side of the mansion. He could hear the furniture being flung around, and jumped back, startled, when something, probably the chair, hit the door with a crash.  
  
"Spike!" Lex called through the door. "Stop it! I'm coming in to help you."  
  
Lex could hear through the door as Spike picked the chair up and heaved it again, even more forcefully this time, the sound of splintering wood a very bad sign.  
  
"You can't help," Spike railed from inside the room. "I can bloody well help myself now!"  
  
Lex abandoned logical thought and swiftly unlocked the door, thrusting the wooden cross inside first and following quickly after it. The vampire snarled and stepped back, but not very far, looked like he would welcome a fight just about then, but abruptly dropped the splintered leg of the chair he had been holding and leaned dejectedly against the wall. Lex noted the wreck of the room peripherally, and wondered how long Spike had been rampaging before he had actually started screaming.  
  
"I don't care what you do," Spike mumbled, clenching and unclenching his fists helplessly.  
  
Lex circled Spike warily, keeping the cross at arm's length in front of him. "I'm not going to do anything, Spike. I came to see what all the fuss is about. Can't you sleep? Do you need something?"  
  
"Anything you want to give me, I'm not taking," Spike told him, glaring balefully at Lex. "Don't need that, can't touch you, mustn't touch you, her, anyone. Can't touch me, bugs in my head, fire ants, they bite. I'm cold."  
  
Spike quieted suddenly, slid slowly down the wall until he was sitting on the floor, knees pulled up against him, head down and hands restless, like last night when Lex had found him in the kitchen. He began to mumble softly again, and Lex stooped down in front of him, laying the cross down within easy reach, gambling on the fact that Greer was right and the chip was still functioning. He wanted to hear what Spike was saying, wanted to remember every word.  
  
"Nancy-boy got his for free, had to fight for mine, fought my way back from the dead and I'm still dead. Here we are now. They'll leave me there to burn some day, first time evil comes around."  
  
"Nancy-boy?" Lex ventured, perplexed, but Spike was rambling and not paying any attention to him.  
  
"Bound to the boy, I see it. Linked like me, but it's to her, linked forever, both fucked, vampire, poncy rich man, makes no difference, fate doesn't bloody care. Angelus said.."  
  
Spike laid his head on his knees and closed his eyes, one silent tear tracking it's way down his face.  
  
Lex sat beside him against the wall, putting an arm around him gently and pulling him in closer. Whatever the problem was in Spike's head, it was killing him slowly, and Lex could see how far he was now from the Spike who had come to see him last year. Something was very wrong in Sunnydale, and in Spike.  
  
Lex found himself stroking the vampire's arm, reached up with his other hand to smooth over the sharp planes of Spike's face. Found the wet trail of the single, cold tear and brushed it away, resisting the urge to see if it tasted like a tear from someone alive and warm. "Shhhh," Lex breathed soothingly into the tousled hair tickling his cheek. "Sleep, Spike," he urged. "I'll keep the bugs away."  
  
"Love her to kill her," Spike whispered. "All wrong, all the wrong things to do. Went to Africa. Animals. Demons. The elephant pinks in the bathtub but only on Thursdays."  
  
"Of course it does," Lex replied automatically, pulling Spike in a bit closer, gears in his mind working overtime. "It always will."  
  
William. Angelus. Africa.  
  
Lex frowned. He had a lot more research to do. 


	3. Changing Your Mind 3

Changing Your Mind 3  
  
By Annie  
  
Rated: PG-13 Summary: Spike and Clark meet; Lex finally decides what to do about Fox Mulder. Disclaimer: Not mine, still not mine. Feedback: crehnert@ptd.net Lamb courtesy of Sally, my fic zookeeper. (  
Prying hadn't worked; actually had never worked since the beginning, but knowing some of Clark's secrets, courtesy of Spike, helped Lex phrase his innocent-sounding questions in more leading ways. Clark didn't bite.  
  
Hinting hadn't worked either, and Lex was unwilling to just ask Clark bluntly if he was really human. Clark would just favor him with that mega- watt smile, say something ambiguous and Lex would have to beat off again to get to sleep. Bad enough to have Clark hanging around him like some kind of walking aphrodisiac, but the nearness of the vampire was enough to keep him on edge. Insane outbursts aside, Lex felt an undeniable attraction toward Spike, and walked around the mansion frustrated because he really couldn't do anything about it.  
  
The Initiative scientists were a font of information, however, once Lex demanded they spill all, and the tales of this Angelus were enough to chill his blood. He needed to get Spike out of Smallville. Away from himself and the Kents. He didn't want any of Spike's old gang coming to Kansas looking for him.  
  
Also, he needed to do something about Fox Mulder.  
  
Mostly, he needed Clark to open up and trust him.  
  
What he should probably do was throw Spike out of the mansion and send him packing; tell Clark he didn't want to hear any more lies, and then find a way to get Mulder censured in the Bureau. Barring that, he should just go to Metropolis, get wasted and then laid, and forget about all three of them.  
  
Lex sat behind his desk and sighed inwardly. None of that was going to happen. He was staring blankly at his laptop, thinking about Fox Mulder and ways to keep him away from Smallville, when he realized Clark was coming over in a few minutes. Lex still had to take Spike's daily bag to him, so he thought he'd do that quickly and have an uninterrupted Clark- analyzing evening.  
  
Lex heard the shouting and cursing from way down the hall even before he got to Spike's room. Great. Just what he needed now, with Clark probably already pulling up the drive. He pulled the small metal cross he carried out of his pocket and cautiously opened the door.  
  
Spike was standing in the far corner of the room, railing at someone loudly, accent heavier than Lex had ever heard it.  
  
"I can't keep any promises! I can't do any bloody thing to help. G- man ex-boyfriends showing up, setting my place on fire, sodding other nancy- boy vamps all stuck in her brain! They all hate me, you know. Even the lil' bit probably hates me now, and the Watcher! Oh, when that wanker finds out, he'll have Red wicca my balls away! You should have warned me! Before the bloody trials! Don't you have some kind of get-a-soul-at-your-own-risk clause, because you bloody need one! I'm supposed to be worthy now? Worthless is more bloody like it!"  
  
"Spike, calm down," Lex interrupted the tirade, walking into the room warily, cross held out in front of him. He laid the bag of blood on the table, watching as Spike's sharp blue eyes followed every move he made. "What's wrong, Spike? Why do you think you're worthless?"  
  
Spike moved forward suddenly, hand blurring out to smack the cross away, out of Lex's hand, to go skittering across the floor way out of reach.  
  
"Why do you think I'm not?" the vampire countered, advancing a step at a time until Lex's back was against the wall, two strong arms stretched out beside him, blocking his escape.  
  
"Spike, it's me, Lex. It's okay," he tried to assure Spike, and hated the tiny nuance of fear he could hear in his own voice.  
  
"I know perfectly well who you are, Lex," Spike told him, listening to the rapid heartbeat, the ragged breathing. "You're the Yank who brings my dinner. You don't even heat it up for me."  
  
Lex's brain locked up on him as Spike leaned his face closer to Lex's, eyes searing into his, then raking his gaze down to Lex's throat, eyeing the throbbing there, pulsing beneath the warm flesh.  
  
Spike inhaled, searching for the scent of blood and Lex. "Your blood is hot for me. You're hard for me, too, I can smell it."  
  
Lex tried to stand away from the wall, but Spike pushed against his chest with one hand, knocking him painfully into the stone, wincing against the shock of pain in his head, but standing his ground.  
  
"What would it take to get you to help me, Lex? Little lick? Little bite? You can't help me, can you? You just don't know how to tell me. You're not getting any of those things anyway. I've played second fiddle to an idiot tin soldier and the angst king of California. I'm not placing behind Farmboy."  
  
It was at just that moment when the aforementioned farmboy burst into the room and grabbed Spike, flinging him away from Lex to land in a painful heap across the room.  
  
"Clark, no!" Lex grabbed him frantically. "Stop! It's not what you think."  
  
Clark froze for a moment, staring in recognition at the man crumpled on the floor, murmuring to himself about fiddles. He looked from Spike to Lex and back again, hurt and confusion on his face.  
  
"What should I be thinking? He pushed you."  
  
Lex ran a hand over his eyes tiredly. Seemed like this jig was up.  
  
He laid a hand on Clark's arm firmly. "Please go and wait in the office for a minute. I'll be right there, and I'll explain."  
  
Clark objected. "Lex, he's dangerous."  
  
Lex shook his head. "Not to me, he isn't. Trust me, Clark. I'll be right there. Just wait. Please."  
  
Clark did as Lex asked, and Lex waited until he thought Clark was out of earshot before he went over to Spike. The vampire had stopped mumbling by now, and Lex laid a hand on his arm gently.  
  
"Spike," he said softly. "I'll heat it up from now on, okay?"  
  
"Just get out. Leave me be," Spike whispered. "Don't forget to lock the bloody door." He snorted.  
  
Lex's mind was racing on the way back to his office as a sudden breakthrough came to him. If he could show Clark that he, Lex, trusted him with an important secret, maybe Clark would feel obligated to reciprocate. And as he thought this, Lex suddenly knew what he was going to do about Fox Mulder.  
  
Clark was pacing around impatiently when Lex walked into the office, and Lex held up a hand to silence the stream of questions he knew was coming as soon as Clark opened his mouth.  
  
"Relax, Clark, I'll tell you the whole story."  
  
Lex settled himself behind the desk, waiting until Clark decided whether he wanted to sit or stand, opting for the latter, bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet while he listened.  
  
"Spike is a vampire. Yes, a real vampire," Lex assured him, when he saw the doubt cross Clark's face. "He has a chip in his head. A secret government device that prevents him from hurting any human being without considerable pain to himself. This was done to him by a secret organization called the Initiative. As a matter of fact, that's why the two F.B.I. agents were here. The Initiative is said to have folded, and its' scientists were thought to have gone to work secretly for someone very wealthy. Spike came here last year because I was on his list of men who might know where the scientists are, to see if he could get his chip removed. When he found out I didn't know anything, he left Smallville." Well, half-truths were better than none, Lex thought. "He's back now because something happened to him in Africa, and he has these delusional episodes as a result. He wants me to try to help him find the scientists, but I haven't had any success. As for the federal agents, they seem to think I'm hiding the old Initiative members, and I don't want the F.B.I. in Smallville. However, I think I just figured out a way to get them out of here for good."  
  
Clark looked a bit flustered, trying to take this all in.  
  
"It's a lot, I know," Lex remarked, getting up from behind the desk and coming around to stand closer, needing to feel that Clark wasn't ready to simply bolt from the mansion and never come back.  
  
Clark shrugged. "It is a lot, Lex, but it's not anything worse than things we've already seen thanks to the meteors. But, why didn't you tell me before? Why didn't you tell me about Spike last year. And he said his name was William, then."  
  
"That explains that," Lex said softly, remembering Spike's cryptic statement about there not being a William.  
  
Clark looked at him quizzically.  
  
"He must have been William before he was changed into a vampire. He told me there was no William."  
  
"What are you going to do, Lex? What about the F.B.I.?"  
  
"I'll make a deal with Agent Mulder. And I don't think I can help Spike. Even if I did know where those scientists are, which I don't, I wouldn't want to be responsible for getting that chip out and allowing him to murder freely again for countless years. But, thanks for the sudden rescue anyway." Lex said, getting a bit off the subject. "How did you know where I was?"  
  
This made Clark slightly uncomfortable. He couldn't very well tell Lex he searched the castle for him with his x-ray vision when he saw Lex wasn't in his office waiting.  
  
"I, um, I thought you might be off doing something, maybe forgot what time I was coming, so I was just walking around and heard you and Spike talking."  
  
Lex nodded silently, not believing a word of it.  
Clark was back the next afternoon at Spike's feeding time, wanting to take the now-warm bag of blood to the vampire himself.  
  
"I just want to talk to him, Lex," he explained, when asked about his obvious enthusiasm. "Come on, he's a real vampire and he can't hurt me, you said so yourself."  
  
Lex relented, but with reservations. "Listen at the door first," he cautioned. "If he's in there talking to himself, don't go in. If you're gone too long, I'm coming looking for you."  
  
Clark smiled reassuringly. "He won't hurt me, Lex."  
  
All was quiet when Clark listened at Spike's door, but he used his x- ray vision to peek inside first. Spike was sitting on the floor, staring at the far wall, cigarette burning forgotten between his fingers. Used to dealing with meteor freaks, Clark wasn't at all nervous about this meeting, was actually excited that he would be able to get close to someone like this and not have to suffer from meteor sickness.  
  
He entered slowly, not wanting to startle Spike, and stopped in his tracks at the intensity of the blue gaze aimed his way at his entrance.  
  
"Where's Lex?" Spike asked distrustfully.  
  
"In his office," Clark hurried to assure him. "I wanted to bring this today. I heated it up this time, and I put it inside this insulated bag. It'll stay warm a long time. I just wanted."  
  
Spike stood abruptly and interrupted him. "Wanted to see the blood- sucking, souled demon? That it?"  
  
"Yes. No. I wanted to see if you were really real." Clark took a step closer. "And I wanted to tell you that if you hurt Lex, I'll hurt you back. You know I can."  
  
Spike laughed shortly. "Well, we both know why that is, don't we?"  
  
"Because you can't hurt me. You have that chip in your head."  
  
Spike walked around Clark slowly, measuring, calculating. "Wasn't the bloody chip that sent me sailing down the alley and into the flower shop, mate. I knew what you are the moment we shook hands in the coffee shop. You won't be needing to plan any hurt for me. I'm not going to do anything to Luthor, even though he wants me to."  
  
Clark looked puzzled and Spike laughed again, more amused this time.  
  
"Vampires can sense things, you know. Well, no I guess you don't, but I'm telling you. First time I saw you all in the coffee shop together, I knew everything that was going on here."  
  
"And what's going on here?" Clark asked lightly, waiting to hear the Vampire Perspective of Smallville.  
  
Spike hesitated. Then: "It's like me. You know, it's the person we love, not the outside appearance, but the inside soul. I went and got one, and I'm pretty sure it's not going to make any difference. But I have to go back anyway. I'm meant to be there. Others are meant for each other, too. Sometimes, out of the blue, I taste her skin. Just like that, it's there. If I never have her again, if I never even touch her again, I have to go back. I feel it. Just like I feel things here. Like I feel you. Why are you worried I'll hurt Lex? He's helping me."  
  
"People Lex trusted have hurt him before," Clark replied. "You're not even human, and I wouldn't let you get away with it."  
  
"Does Lex trust you?" Spike asked.  
  
"We're best friends." Clark said simply.  
  
"You'd never hurt him. Or betray him with lies."  
  
"Of course I wouldn't," Clark objected, unable to meet the piercing blue gaze quite so steadily now.  
  
"I saw you at the coffee shop last year, all drippy-eyed over that girl, what's her name, Lana?"  
  
"You leave Lana out of this." Clark bristled, and Spike smiled in amusement.  
  
"Word of advice, mate. Don't go for the sugarcane. She doesn't feel that way about you. You'd break her anyway. You need something stronger, more..resilient. More readily available to you, and a lot more interested."  
  
"What are you talking about, Spike?"  
  
Spike sighed in frustration. "Can't bloody see it, can you? That smile, just for you. That dropping everything if you walk in the place. There are other.options."  
  
Clark blinked, something inside of him knowing where this was going, and something else telling him it wasn't true.  
  
"What?" he asked.  
  
The vampire shook his head. "Colonial dolt. Bloody innocent lamb running in the corn. Need it spelled out for you? There are other names that begin with an L, besides Lana."  
  
Clark was shaking his head slowly. "Spike, that's not, that's.."  
  
"Not true?" Spike finished for him, raised eyebrow indicating his total disbelief. "You think about it, Little McDonald. And while you're doing that, tell Luthor I want to see him."  
  
Spike hadn't touched the bag of blood yet, Lex saw as he entered the room.  
  
"You need something?" he asked. "More cigarettes? Radio?"  
  
"You can't give me anything I need, Luthor," Spike told him ruefully. "I have to go back. I'm leaving. I just want to know if I should keep my eyes open for feds when I get back to Sunnydale."  
  
"You don't have to leave, Spike. You can stay here until you get accustomed to, you know, the new soul. As for the feds, I'll have that taken care of in a few days. The feds won't be going to Sunnydale, won't ever hear about it."  
  
Spike nodded. "Good, then. But I have to go back and face the Scooby music. I feel like things will be different now. Easier for me. I can't keep running away."  
  
Lex smiled softly. "Are you sure? Things could be easy for you here."  
  
"No," Spike refused. "I have to go back. I feel drawn, more every day. I want to tell you, though, I see things, when I'm, you know, not myself."  
  
"Things?" Lex asked.  
  
"Things. Like, I have to get back. Like you. You're bound to the boy, Luthor, one way or another. You have to decide. I'm leaving as soon as the sun goes down, and I'm never coming back."  
  
Lex studied the face before him, the determination in the blue eyes, perfectly clear at that moment, absolutely lucid. Lex hoped they would stay that way. He held his hand out to shake Spike's colder one, grasping firmly in farewell.  
  
"I hope you get everything you want, Spike. If you don't, you call me."  
  
Spike smiled. "Thanks. And I won't. Call you, I mean. Get back to the boy. He's probably thinking I'm draining you dry by now."  
  
Lex paused in the doorway to look back. "Good luck, Spike."  
  
Spike waved his thanks and lit up another smoke as Lex disappeared, leaving the door open this time. He thought he would need a lot more than a Luthor good luck wish when he got back to the Hellmouth. 


	4. Changing Your Mind 4

Changing Your Mind 4  
  
by Annie  
  
Rated: PG Summary: Lex makes a deal. Disclaimer: So not mine, not making any money, just having fun. Feedback: crehnert@ptd.net  
Lex was late. Deliberately, of course, and he sauntered easily into his office as if his timing was perfectly in conjunction with the arrangements he had made with Agent Mulder.  
  
Lex was still exhilarated from the work-out he had subjected himself to down the hall, knew the sight of such a relaxed Luthor would catch Mulder off guard, and Lex covered a small smile of triumph by wiping his face and neck with a towel and then heading for the bar, towel slung over his shoulder carelessly, white against the tight black tank he was wearing with the black sweatpants and sneakers.  
  
Mulder had been walking around the room slowly, looking at the artwork and weaponry on the walls, the first edition books on the shelf, and Lex had timed it just exactly to the moment when Mulder had almost decided to leave. He could see it in the barely disguised glint of annoyance in the hazel eyes, and the slightly startled look on the agent's face when he saw a Luthor who was not dressed for a business meeting.  
  
"Agent Mulder," Lex greeted him openly, reaching into the small fridge and taking out two bottles of water, motioning to the chair in front of his desk, then walking over to offer the water to Mulder.  
  
"Join me, sit," Lex said, going behind the desk casually and sitting down, leaning back to take a drink and moving his laptop to make room on the desk.  
  
Mulder remained standing, not opening his bottle, regarding Lex with tacit irritation.  
  
"You did say today at two?" Mulder asked calmly, wondering how someone with the FBI breathing down his throat could be so calm about it, especially when there were probably dozens of tax laws being broken and millions of dollars being hidden away from the government. "You finally returned my calls. How was California?"  
  
Lex ran a hand over his head ruefully. "Hot, bit too sunny. Please, sit," Lex offered again, sounding more like a command this time. Master of all he surveys, Mulder thought.  
  
He sat. No sense antagonizing the man any further. One more call to the Director, and Mulder's ass would be in the sling to end all slings.  
  
"How was your flight, Agent Mulder?" Lex asked disinterestedly, as he opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out a stack of blue folders.  
  
"Coach," Mulder replied. "Expense account, you know. Or maybe you wouldn't."  
  
Lex smiled. With his mouth but not with his eyes, Mulder noted uncomfortably. He considered a pre-emptive strike.  
  
Mulder eyed the stack of folders. "You called me, Mr. Luthor. You have information for me after all?"  
  
Lex made him wait for it. "You weren't worried about coming back to Smallville? Even after all the weird stories you and your partner heard? How is Agent Scully, by the way? You should have brought her along. Make this a bit more entertaining for me."  
  
"I doubt Agent Scully's presence would have accomplished that," Mulder said baitingly. "She's working on something else today. Something legitimate."  
  
Touche, Lex thought.  
  
"Well, I'm sure you have nothing to worry about," Lex replied smoothly. "It's not as if there's anyone around who can wish you away into a cornfield or anything."  
  
"Are you sure?" Mulder asked. "Why are we having this meeting, Luthor? Have you decided to turn over the scientists after all?"  
  
Lex smiled again, as if Mulder had said something vaguely funny.  
  
"You're barking up the wrong wooden stake, Fox," Lex informed him, deliberately enunciating the Agent's given name, watching his quiet discomfiture. Lex laid a hand on top of the folders. "Your visit here intrigued me. I'm not blind to the possibilities of future technology, but neither LuthorCorp nor LexCorp has any interest in any mind-control devices. That doesn't mean there aren't factions instituted for that exact purpose, so I decided to find out for myself."  
  
Mulder raised an eyebrow, but remained silent, wondering just where Luthor was heading with this.  
  
"I have had some in-depth research done, Agent Mulder, and I can tell you unequivocally that the Initiative does not exist. There are no missing scientists. No uncontrollable monsters on the loose."  
  
"There is still the question of young Mr. Kent, who seems to be present at mostly every single unexplainable incident, as I said before. And yourself. You have a record almost as impressive as his for being in the wrong place at the wrong time." Mulder remarked, seeing the coldness go into Lex's eyes when he mentioned Clark.  
  
"It's a small town. Odds are, lots of other people were present at these events as well. Clark is an extraordinary human being, but nothing more than that." Lex said firmly.  
  
"And the folders?" Mulder inquired, unwilling to dig any further into the relationship Lex had with his pool partner. Lex's feelings about the boy were patently obvious to someone with Mulder's profiling expertise. He felt appropriately warned away from the subject of Clark Kent.  
  
"I wouldn't want you to leave Smallville for good empty-handed, Agent Mulder. Everything we've been discussing here doesn't exist, but these do, and I know where to find them. You can have them all," Lex started reeling them off, tossing the folders to the edge of the desk for Mulder one at a time.  
  
"A telekinetic; a boy who can turn anything he touches, even flames, into ice. He currently resides in a frozen pond on the estate, by the way. I can have him blocked out and shipped to the laboratory of your choice. I suggest somewhere cold. A woman who can control mens' minds with pheromones, and a young girl who can do the same with swarms of killer bees; a man who goes into uncontrolled jitters because of some kind of meteor-induced influence in his body; a boy who turns into a monster if he is exposed to sunlight; another boy who can make himself invisible; and a man who can make a person do anything simply by shaking hands."  
  
Lex leaned back in his chair and waited silently until Mulder reached over to get one of the files, then he came up out of the chair swiftly and slammed his hand on the stack of folders.  
  
"You can have them all, Agent," Lex repeated meaningfully. "Consider it your going away present."  
  
Mulder smiled himself now. "I see. The X-Files stays out of Smallville and I get to keep your files. Are we playing the Luthor version of Poker? I'll see your telekinetic and raise you one boy in an ice cube. You'd give up all these files for one measly farmboy?"  
  
"I don't play games, Mulder, and I never let go of anything I might eventually need. You can have the files. Leave Smallville to me."  
  
Mulder saw nothing but determination in Lex's eyes, and figured the best thing would be to back off. Take the mysterious files and head back to D.C. Luthor was probably handing him years of work, and was asking a very small price for it. What could there possibly be about Clark Kent that would be better than the information in the stack of folders?  
  
Mulder put his hand out to shake Lex's. "This will be our last meeting then, Mr. Luthor. If you're ever in Washington, give me a call."  
  
Lex smiled, almost a real smile this time, and handed the files to Mulder, declining the handshake.  
  
"I'm sure I won't," Lex replied, as Mulder took the files and turned to leave the room. "But, please," Lex stopped him when he had almost reached the door.  
  
Mulder turned back questioningly.  
  
"Mr. Luthor?"  
  
"Please give my regards to Agent Scully and the Director."  
  
"I'll do that," Mulder promised, pausing in the hall just outside the door, giving Lex one more silent gaze before he disappeared from sight.  
  
Lex went back to the bar and treated himself to something a little stiffer than water, then headed for the shower.  
  
Spike taken care of. Check.  
  
Mulder taken care of. Check.  
  
That left Clark's little batch of secrets. When Lex got out of the shower, he called Clark and invited him over for a game. 


	5. Changing Your Mind 5

Changing Your Mind 5  
  
By Annie  
  
Summary: Clark and Lex have a talk about secrets. Rated: PG-13 Disclaimer: Certainly not mine. Feedback: crehnert@ptd.net  
Lex was pacing in his office impatiently, and by the time Clark actually arrived, he was more than ready for a stiff drink. He was still a bit high from his management of the Fox Mulder situation, and was anxious to try finally getting the truth from Clark. Spike's leaving had left Lex a little down, but given the vampire's newly-acquired penchant for going off the deep end at a moment's notice, Lex thought the Slayer could deal with it now, and more power to her. Lex made mental note to call out there in a few weeks to see if Spike had made it home, and how things were going.  
  
In the meantime, Lex was tired of all the hedging, and needed to know Clark felt he could trust him.  
  
Clark breezed into the room, smiling widely as soon as he saw Lex, holding up a dvd triumphantly. "I brought the movie this time," he informed Lex, holding the disc out so Lex could read the name on the cover.  
  
"Dracula," Lex said dryly. "Let me guess, in honor of my recent houseguest. I probably have that one in my collection, Clark. It's a classic, you know."  
  
Clark rolled his eyes. "Yea, Lex, I know. I wanted to bring something for a change. But you've got all the snacks right?"  
  
Lex smiled indulgently, a real smile, the kind only Clark was allowed to see.  
  
"I have lots of snacks, everything a growing boy shouldn't be eating. You want to watch in the den or would you rather go to the media room?"  
  
"Den," Clark replied quickly. "It's cos- more comfortable."  
  
Lex turned and hid a smile. He would have bet money Clark was going to say it was cosier. "Let's raid the kitchen then and see what we can find." He offered, leading the way.  
  
They were settled on opposite sides of the sofa a few minutes later, impressive array of snacks and drinks on a big tray between them, and after the movie started, neither one of them spoke for a while. Then Lex's patience gave way.  
  
"Vampires are supposed to be very strong," he commented. "I know Spike was."  
  
"I don't remember that he was all that strong, but that was a year ago," Clark shrugged. "He didn't look like a weakling, from what I saw."  
  
"Definitely not," Lex agreed. "Believe me, he really was strong."  
  
More silence for a few minutes, and Lex let that hang in the air a bit, let Clark forget about it.  
  
"So, how did you throw him down the alley, Clark?"  
  
Clark almost choked on a piece of chip, startled by the sudden leading question.  
  
He looked at Lex briefly, then turned his gaze back down to the snack tray, avoiding Lex's eyes.  
  
He shrugged again. "Adrenaline, I guess. You know how it is."  
  
"No, Clark, I actually don't. I know how adrenaline works, of course, but I find it hard to believe that adrenaline could throw someone like Spike down an alley and across a street to crash through a thick plate glass window into a store."  
  
"I don't know what else to tell you, Lex." Clark said quietly. "I don't think I threw him as far as he thought I did. He's gone now, though, so I guess it doesn't matter."  
  
"The F.B.I. really had you spooked though, didn't they? They were just looking for those scientists, and they aren't around here anyway. You didn't have anything to be worried about. Did you?"  
  
"Naw," Clark smiled. "No tax evasion at the Kent farm." He laughed.  
  
Lex leaned over to pick up the remote, stopping the movie and turning off the set. He removed the tray from between them and set it on the floor, turning to face Clark squarely, making the boy decidedly uncomfortable.  
  
"Just evasion in the general sense, then?" Lex asked.  
  
"Lex, I'm not sure what you're getting at. I just came over to watch a movie. What's with the third degree?"  
  
"I told you once before, a long time ago, I'd do anything to protect my friends. This still holds true, Clark, but I can't protect you if I don't know what to protect you from."  
  
"I don't need you to protect me," Clark objected.  
  
"Everyone needs protection Clark, even if it's only from themselves. Spike knew things, sensed things. He told me, something, and I really wish you would feel enough trust in me to let me in. Mostly everyone here has been affected by the meteors in some way, Clark. If you were, then that doesn't make you a monster or anything. I mean, look at me! I was 'that bald-headed freak' for years until I managed to convince everyone that they'd be better off not mentioning it. On the plus side, I never get sick, healthy as a horse all the time. Unless, of course, you count the time I was dead."  
  
Lex was happy to see that elicited a small, rueful smile from Clark, who still refused to meet his gaze, eyes downcast, wonderful hair falling on his forehead. Lex resisted a powerful urge to reach over and brush it away, make Clark raise his head and look at him.  
  
"What kinds of things?" Clark asked, and Lex was puzzled for a moment, until he backtracked through the conversation in his mind.  
  
"What kinds of things did Spike know? Mostly intuitive things, but there was other stuff. Like he told me, he could tell the difference between a human and a non-human, a demon, for example, simply by touch. Like, maybe, shaking hands."  
  
Clark nodded slowly. "He did sense things, but I thought his sense was a bit off. Till I thought about it a while longer. He shook my hand."  
  
Lex could feel the resignation building up in Clark, and his breath quickened suddenly. Clark wanted to tell him, wanted to tell Lex everything.  
  
Lex moved, shortening the distance between them. "What happened when you shook Spike's hand, Clark?"  
  
Clark blinked, glancing over to Lex, seeing he had come closer, feeling it in the heat from Lex's body, the sound of his breathing and the faster beat of his heart. Clark knew the rhythm of Lex's heart well, listened to it whenever there was silence between them, listened to be sure it was strong and steady.  
  
"Nothing. I thought his hand was pretty cold, but now I realize why. Creepy, thinking I shook hands with a dead man. But then he attacked me in the alley. I was so surprised, I just..."  
  
Lex didn't resist the urge this time, reached out to put two fingers on Clark's jaw and turn his head so Lex could look into his eyes.  
  
"Just picked him up and heaved him two or three hundred feet to get him away from you," Lex finished for him.  
  
Clark was silent, refusing to either admit or deny.  
  
"Clark, I'm trying to be honest with you, and I want you to trust me. I would never betray you."  
  
"It's too hard, Lex," Clark replied, slow shake of his head dislodging Lex's fingers from his jaw, and Lex missed the touch immediately. "As for being honest, Spike knew a lot about you, too."  
  
Lex raised an eyebrow, hoping Spike hadn't been so open with Clark as to mention the two encounters he'd had with Lex.  
  
"I'm sure Spike did," Lex tried to dismiss the thought. "Spike told me you've been keeping secrets."  
  
Clark looked at him oddly, studied Lex's face more seriously than Lex could ever remember, and then he suddenly reached up and touched Lex's face, briefly, unexpectedly, dropping the hand quickly back to rest on his own leg. He rose abruptly.  
  
"I can't," he said, clearly agitated. "I have to go."  
  
"Clark, don't," Lex stood himself, tried to stop him, but Clark was out of the room already. "Damn it!" Lex muttered, heading over to the small table in the corner, pouring a large helping of scotch. He flopped back down onto the couch, totally frustrated and aching to tear into something. Where the hell was Lionel when you needed him?  
  
Clark made it as far as the driveway, fingers on the handle of the truck door, before he stopped himself. He didn't want to run away from Lex. He didn't want to lie to him either, but the admonitions of his parents were so ingrained it was hard to go against the limits they had set for him all this time. No one should know. It could be dangerous for them, and would probably be dangerous for Clark. Clark laid his forehead on the cool glass of the truck window, closed his eyes, and all he could see was Lex. All he could hear was Lex. Hinting that he knew things. Telling him he'd taken away the threat of the F.B.I. Trying to help a vampire, and if Clark was his father, he'd wonder what Lex could possibly have gotten out of that deal.  
  
Clark knew if he left right now, things would go right back to the way they were with Lex, pre-Spike. Clark didn't know if Lex would be able to forget the suspicions Spike had obviously planted in his mind. More than that, Clark didn't know if he'd be able to forget what Spike had told him about Lex, without trying to find out the truth. More than anything, Clark never wanted to drive Lex away, couldn't begin to imagine life in Smallville without Lex.  
  
Well, then, truth for truth.  
  
Lex was on his second drink when Clark's form appeared in the doorway, and Lex was afraid to say anything, afraid to make him turn and run again.  
  
Clark stepped over the forgotten snack tray and settled back on the couch, not facing Lex, looking down at his hands, silent for too many long seconds. Lex waited, forcing patience.  
  
"Spike told you I've been keeping secrets. According to him, you've been keeping them, too. Spike said..." Clark hesitated, struggling to say something he was having trouble putting into words. Lex was expecting Clark's next sentence to be about what Lex and Spike had done together. Braced himself to try to explain it.  
  
"What did Spike say?" Lex asked softly.  
  
"Spike said I had other options," Clark blurted out. "Other options than Lana. He was talking about you. Me and you."  
  
Lex smiled grimly. "Spike is very astute. Did you try to pitch him down another alley?"  
  
Clark turned his entire body to face Lex now, confusion coming off him in waves.  
  
"Just tell me, Lex. Just tell me if it's true. I need to know."  
  
"I need to know things, too, Clark. And for the record, it's very true."  
  
Clark's eyes were searching his face again, and Lex had to admit he was scared. At least he hadn't bolted out the door again and run back to the farm. Clark was trying to decide something, and Lex pushed growing impatience aside and waited, meeting Clark's gaze steadily.  
  
Clark looked down at Lex's hands then, reaching over tentatively to brush his fingers slowly down the back of one hand, stopping Lex's breath. Lex froze, afraid to move and break the moment.  
  
"Lex," Clark started, and paused uncertainly.  
  
"Clark," Lex said, surprised at the effort it took to get the word out. "Just because Spike said it, just because I feel this way, it doesn't mean we have to...we can just."  
  
Clark looked up sharply. "Just forget it? That it, Lex? I don't want to forget it. I don't want to keep things from you anymore. It's too hard. It's too painful."  
  
Lex moved then, reaching out to pull Clark into him, lean against him restfully, not wanting to push him away, just wanting to have what he could have tonight. "It's okay, Clark. Let's just sit a while, and then you can go home if you want. Or you can stay. You can talk, or not. I'll wait," Lex promised, tightening his arm around Clark.  
  
Clark took one of Lex's hands in his and grasped it firmly. He started softly, eyes closed, breathing in Lex, listening to the heartbeat he knew so well.  
  
"I came with the meteors, and they think I was about three years old then..." 


End file.
